Guide for fabric-cutting machines



(No Model.)

J. D. HEMPHILL & G. H. RADOLIPPE. GUIDE FOR FABRIC CUTTING MACHINES.

No. 557,815. Patented Apr. 7, 1896.

F i/gl, 7

6 IV H m mmm x 7 NlTE STATES ATENT OFFICE.

JOSHUA D. HEHPHILL, OF SHELTON, AND GEORGE H. RADCLIFFE, OF DERBY, CONNECTICUT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 557,815, dated April '7, 1896.

Application filed February 20, 1896. Serial No. 580,092.

To (6 whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, JOSHUAD. IIEMPHILL, residing at Shelton, in thecounty of Fairfield, and GEORGE ll. RADCLIFFE, residing at Derby, in the county of New Haven, State of Connecticut, citizens of the United States, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Guides for Fabric-Cutting Machines; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

Our invention relates to the class of machines for cut-ting fabrics illustrated and described in patent to Ilemphill, No. 546,532, dated September 17, 189-5, and has for its object to provide novel upper and lower guides which shall be adapted for use upon machines of this class, the action of which shall be to retain the fabric to be cut in the exact position required in making the cut, and which, furthermore, should the fabric be started in wrong, will guide it at once into proper position to be cut. The machine illustrated and described in the said patent referred to is particularly designed for cutting up the material from which cuffs for underwear, stockings, &c. are made, it being understood, of course, that these cuffs are knit in continuous strips and that welts or ridges are knit in the strips, at which welts or ridges the cut is made in separating the strip into independent cuffs. In machines of this class the strips of fabric are passed through the cutters by hand, the guides of course acting to assist the operator in keeping the welts central with the cutters, but the guides illustrated and described in the said patent not acting automatically to hold the welts or ridges in the strips central with the cutters and to move them into a central position should theybe started wrong, thus leaving it entirely to the skill and judgment of the operator whether or not the cuts shall be made at exactly the proper place. In order to overcome this difficulty and provide guides which shall keep the welts or ridges central relatively to the cutters and guide them into proper position should they be started wrong, we have devised the novel upper and lower guides of which the following (No model.)

illustrate the application thereto of our novel guides; Fig. 2, a plan view of the lower guide detached; Fig. 3, an inverted plan view of the upper guide detached; Fig. 4, an elevation of one of the plates of the upper guide detached the upper plate as seen in Fig. 3; and Fig. 5 is a section on line w in Fig. 1.

1 denotes a suitable frame; 2, the work table, which is provided with a slot 3; 4., the upper cutter, and 5 the lower cutter, which lies in slot 3.

A denotes the upper guide, which is carried by an arm '7, extending from any convenient portion of the frame of the machine, and B the lower guide, which is secured to the worktable. The upper guide is adj ustably secured to arm 7 by screws 8, which pass through a slot 9 in the guide and engage the arm.

The upper guide consists, essentially, of plates 10 and 11, which are riveted or otherwise rigidly secured to a holding-plate 15, in which the slot 9 is formed, said plates being held at the required distance apart bya plate 12, lying between them. The novel feature of the upper guide consists in providing plates 10 and 11 with outwardly and rearwardly turned wings or flanges 13, which are preferably cut from the metal of the plates. The front ends of these wings are left attached to the plates, as clearly shown in the drawings, and the rear ends are turned outward, as shown in Fig. 3, and rounded at their lower corners to prevent the fabric from catching thereon, as clearly shown at 14: in Fig. 4.

The lower guide consists of plates 16 and 17, which are adj ustably secured to the worktable by means of screws 18, which pass through slots 19 in the plates and engage the work-table. The novel feature of this guide consists in providing plates 16 and 17 with wings or flanges 20, preferably formed from the metal of the plates. These wings are turned upward from the plane ofthe plates, as clearly shown in Fig. 5, and their edges are inclined rearward and outward-that is, to-

ward the outer edges of the plates-as clearly shown in Fig. 2, and are also provided with notches 21 where the respective rear and front ends of the wings intersect. The rear end of one of the plates of the upper guide-the right plate as shown in Fig. 3 and the left plate as the operator sits at the machineis turned outward, as at 22, to facilitate the insertion of the strip of fabric, and the corresponding plate 16 of the lower guide is cut away, as at 23, (see Fig. 2,) for the same purpose.

The operation will, it is thought, be clearly understood from the description, in connection with the several figures of the drawings. The operator feeds in by hand the strips of fabric to be cut in the ordinary manner with machines of this class, the action of our novel guide being to retain the usual welts or ridges in the fabrics (not shown in the drawings) central between the guides-that is, in proper position to be acted on by the cutters; and, furthermore, it being of course understood that this work is done very rapidly, should the strip be started wrongthat is, with the welt or ridge on the outer side of the guidesthe action of the wings willbe to draw the welt or ridge inward between the guides, the welt or ridge readily passing inward under the wing of the upper guide, by which it is engaged, the rounded end 14 of the wing preventing the fabric from catching thereon, and the corresponding notch 21 between the wings of the lower guide permitting the welt or ridge to pass inward freely. hen the welt or ridge is once located between the plates of the upper and lower guides, respectively, the wings will act to retain it in that position, it being practically impossible, when our novel guides are used, for the welt or ridge to work out from between the plates of the respective guides.

Having thus described our invention, we claim 1. An upper guide for fabric-cutting inachines comprising an attaching-plate and plates 10 and 11 secured thereto at a suitable distance apart said plates 10 and 11 being provided with wings the front ends of which are attached and the rear ends turned outward and rounded at their lower corners as and for the purpose set forth.

2. A lower guide for fabric-cutting machines comprising plates 16 and 17 suitably secured in place, said plates being provided with wings turned upward from the plane of the plates the edges of said wings being inclined rearward and outward and having notches 21 at the intersection of the respective front and rear ends of the wings as and for the purpose set forth.

3. The combination with the frame, worktable and cutters of a fabric-cuttin g machine, of an upper guide comprising an attachingplate and two plates secured thereto at a suitable distance apart, said plates being provided with wings the front ends of which are attached and the rear ends turned outward and rounded at their. lower corners, and a lower guide comprising plates having upwardly-turned wings the edges of which are inclined rearward and outward and are provided with notches 21 at the intersection of the respective front and rear ends of the wings as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof we affix our signatures in presence of two witnesses.

JOSHUA D. IIEMPHILL. GEORGE II. RADCLIFFE.

lVitnesses J. TOMLINSOX, GIDEON TOMLINSOX. 

